Functions
by kingofFevers
Summary: In which the Jesse of green suspenders tears reality apart limb from limb. (Contains: occasional swearing)
1. Before

**C.**

 **I'm in a rush, so I'll make this quick.** **This might be inaccurate. I didn't get to get a good enough look at that world, considering the circumstances, but this is the best I can do, a** **nd I can't wait for November 7. We don't have that kind of time.**

 **If I can get more accurate information, I'll come back and update this document. Right now, this will have to do.**

 **I swear to god, if you're still using that stupid device, I'll come back and smack you over the head.**

 **By the way, sorry if you don't like the swearing. Nothing I can do about that if you want me to keep this as accurate as possible.**

 **Best regards,**

 **\- [RȨ̼̫̪̝̦̙̱̏̃͑̽̂͘͢͠͞ͅD̡̹̹̫̘̊̏̾̊̒͒̚͠ͅÂ̗͙̣͆͂̆̏͘͟ͅCŢ̷͇̱̱̍̔͒͋̑͡ͅE̞͓̣͓̾̏͒͛͑̊͟͝D̢̨̘̲͎̹̲̫͍̋̀̈́̅̆̃̀̇̈]**

* * *

"So how are you gonna go about this?"

"What do you mean, 'How am I gonna go about this?'"

The two were seated beside each other, inside what would look like a small, cozy room to the layman's eyes. Grids of green overlapped the furniture, the walls, and the forest outside. The girl pushed her glasses up her nose and spread her legs on the floor they sat on, her feet swaying side to side. Beside her, the boy's face was blank, but his annoyance and confusion was clear in his voice. Petting the pig in his lap, he glanced at her from his peripheral.

"I already told you, didn't I?" He looked back down at the sleeping pig, whose image was flickering between a soft pink and harsh, cold 0s and 1s; yet, the animal was none the wiser. He slept peacefully, content with resting on his owner's lap. "I'm saving him," the owner said, bright eyes focused on his sleeping friend, "Hell, I'll save everyone."

The girl's eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, tilting her head to look straight at the boy, nevermind the fact that he wasn't looking at her. "Don't you remember what she told you?"

There wasn't any need to specify who the girl was talking about, they'd discussed her and her 'lecture' to Jesse before. "'That shit isn't for you to decide.'" The girl quoted.

"She was talking about me letting Reuben die," he said, not wasting any time in responding to the girl.

She frowned. "Doesn't that apply to you _changing_ things, too?"

Without missing a beat, he dismissed her efforts and hope. "She _wanted_ me to change things, remember?" Jesse finally looked away from the pig and faced the girl, staring directly into her green eyes, daring her to talk back to him. Unfortunately for his inflating ego, she didn't back down, even with doubt beginning to creep into her head.

"I'm just saying, some serious consequences could rise from your actions."

"Don't they always?"

She rolled her eyes, "I mean, like, universe-changing, Jesse. Not just your social circle or the people you're currently saving."

"Technically, I haven't saved anybody yet."

"You get what I mean, asshole."

He let himself chuckle at her expense, looking back down at his friend, who was still alive, still breathing, and not the pitiful ashes kept in an urn like he was told he will be.

"Yeah, of course I do."

Against all the girl's hopes she didn't expect herself to have, she was unconvinced. "And you're still gonna do it?"

"Of course I am."

She sighed and turned away, staring down at her sneakers. "Right."

The two of them were merely children. Very powerful and reckless children, driven by their own goals and uncaring of who gets hurt along the way, only flinching when it was somebody they themselves cared about. She was setting her house up for slaughter, and he was preparing to change the future.

They were naive. They weren't wise nor were they experienced in any manner, no matter how much was spoiled to the boy or how many doors the girl opened. None of what they heard or witnessed could possibly give them enough to make any sort of big decision properly.

Neither of them knew the full extent of what they were getting into; or, in the girl's case, she wasn't willing to find out.

All because she was scared; and she didn't know that she could get scared - it's been a long while since the last time, anyway - but she was. It should have been expected, now that she thought about it, when she'd only just met this boy weeks prior.

She knew who he was, she'd painted his face, but she hadn't actually met him.

Now she has.

Sighing, the girl broke the silence, admitting defeat. "Well," she got up and brushed nonexistent dust from her shorts, "I bid you good luck on that, then, friend."

"Thank you." He said curtly. No other word, no other thought.

She stared down at him, hands on her hips, seeing him off just before all hell broke loose. He didn't move nor deviate from his actions.

"See you on the flipside?"

"Yeah."

Nodding, the girl turned away and vanished in sparks of green, the same shade as the grid-lines overlapping their environment. The boy closed his eyes and took in a breath, letting himself a moment of calm, a moment to get everything together. The pig was still sound asleep, his ears twitching and small body shifting on his owner's lap as he softly pet his head.

He had more than enough time to think about this.

The girl was right. He had the opportunity to change everything and save himself the grief, the grief that he didn't need to feel again after the first time. His friend had so much to do and would've loved to continue playing and hanging out as much as he could, and Jesse knew this.

As selfish as it would have been to let him die and give his friend his twisted definition of "mercy," saving him and breaking from the script he was programmed to follow is just as selfish, if not more.

Give and take.

Action, reaction.

It all ended the same way, anyway.

Yeah, consequences can go to hell for all he cared. He'll let his friend be happy. He'll let everyone else be happy, while he's at it. It's the least he could do for being a jerk.

His eyes flickered as they shot open, and he nodded to himself. Jesse finally moved from his position, and the green and black reverted back to the natural textures of the mass they covered. Reuben's eyes slowly opened as his owner leaned back in the beanbag, observing the setting sun from under half-lidded eyes. The pig blearily looked between the brunette and the window before climbing onto his owner's chest and making himself comfortable.

This was it. The last day before everything went to hell.

Jesse smiled, relaxed and content; a nice, relieving feeling he didn't know he could ever feel, and he let his eyes close.

* * *

 **O̡̧̧̻̖̺͚̞̥̻͐̊̆̌̕͝N̸̡̘̟̮͍͉̗̹̝̓̍̅͐͐̂͛Ẻ̡̘̪͉̳̮̝̣͌́̾̇͒͋͘͢ M̸̡͚͔̞̩̣̖̠͗͗̐͆̀̉̄͌͐̚Ḯ͈̣̥͎̪̠͂͊̈̽̓̍̔͊͗N̛̮͉̙̮̥̞̜̲̦̻͑̔͊̆̇̀U͈͍̭̳̯͉͚͋̀̎̍́͌͋͗̓͜͜͠T̨̼͉̹͚̮́̏̏̍̽̍̚̕͞Ḙ̟̤̦͑̓̏͒͋̉͑͜ T̷̨̼̠̫̞̙͚̼́͌̏̓͠͝O̡̢̨̩͎̭̩̻̱̎̐͒̒̕͟͝ M̵̨̢͙̻̜̹͖̘͓͒͐̾̓͟͡͡I̸̹̰̬͕̺͕̥̓̑̽́̔͝͡ͅD̸̡̢̧̲̗̭̈̄͆͊͆̂͠Ň̶̢̨̲͕̦̺̟̈́̿͘͠I̸̛͍͚̥̠̦͙͐̈́́̕͘͞͝G̨͙̞̩̱̠̫̋̊̒͌̆͢͟H̢̛̰̦͇̹̘̾̈̾̄̋̕͜͢͡͝T̷̺̺͍̭̋̈̉̆̓̓̊ͅͅ**


	2. The Order of the Stone (1)

**Hey, C.**

 **Change of plans. I would've liked to keep all the data from each episode in one place, but it got too long, and honestly it was just really ugly seeing jumbled up data in one place. You wouldn't like it.**

 **Don't get mad at me for valuing aesthetic, I can't help it. You know how I am. Besides, it would be much more efficient if I sent you the data as I got it, right?**

 **And if you really want, I'll see what I can do about bulk orders in the future.**

 **Anyway, send me feedback once you're done reading. I need to know how effective this is.**

 **We don't exactly have time to waste.**

 **Many thanks.**

 **\- S.**

* * *

 **I. Eye of The Storm**

* * *

The Redstonist's plans were complete. She'd dedicated months to revising her research, analysing what went wrong in the old experiments and studying all the information she'd gathered. She checked her notes dozens of times in the days leading up to this. Countless nights were spent theorizing and gathering materials from the mines, refining them to exactly what she needed.

Everything was prepared for today, and she was going to do one more check on her materials before she would spend hours in her Dome of Concentration.

Instead of rearranging in the Storage, however, she was standing on the East balcony, overlooking the currently empty bay of her city.

"Ellegaard?"

The woman didn't look away from the thing in the water. "What time did you see this again?"

"Just this morning," Calvin said, "Nobody seems to have noticed it, or even felt it. No one has reported anything, anyway." He took a quick glance at his clipboard to check, then looked up at the engineer. "I'm assuming it formed in the middle of last night."

The waters of the bay were shallow, so it was easy to see the large hole on the seafloor. It was already there when The Order discovered the island, and if Soren was right, it had formed at some point in the last thousand years. He said that it was nothing to worry about, as long as it wasn't disturbed and that no ships attempted to pass over it, so Ellegaard had specifically avoided interacting with the hole when she founded her city.

Yet here it was, despite her efforts, with rifts forming at opposite ends of the hole, the gap thinning as it furthered out

It resembled an eye.

'Was this karma?' She had to wonder.

Her contemplation was disturbed when Calvin asked, "What should we do?"

He sounded worried.

To be fair to him, he had a right to be.

She was a little worried too.

Ellegaard's brows furrowed, a frown set on her face.

"We shouldn't touch it." She said sternly. The woman looked at the man straight in the eye, "Don't go anywhere near it. Widen the barriers around the hole, but don't close the bay or the bridge." Her grip on the railing tightened, "We are not postponing anything today."

Anxiously, the man nodded. "Understood, ma'am."

She let him leave to do as he was told, and she turned back to the bay.

If she finished the Command Block today, then there truly won't be anything to worry about.

She would start with the rift.

* * *

 **II. The Last of the Treehouse**

* * *

It was like reality fell apart.

 _His_ reality, at the very least.

Jesse had been sparring. He knew today was the day, the day the others told him about. The beginning of the run. He'd been prepared for battles and arguments and running and screaming, but not this.

He'd frozen when he got a good look at his arm, at his hands gripping the toy sword, when he randomly decided to focus on the moment. He didn't see anything, but something had sparked in that one second. Something made itself known.

Strings.

Ball-joints.

Eyes.

They were staring at him.

The more Jesse focused, blocked out his human senses, the stronger their presence felt. The stronger it became. As the sounds began to dull, as Olivia's voice faded, like she was far, far away, as everything became static 0s and 1s. They were there. They seemed to have always been there. The ache at the back of his head, the numb, harrowing void behind his back.

Present, dormant, all his life; and it woke up.

The hypnotic droning continued without pause, without delay, without end. It waited, stagnant, for movement. A ripple.

Green and black grids.

The boy looked around for any sign of them, but there was nothing. It was just vast, empty, black, all around him. Darkness. Static noise that meant nothing to the ignorant. Maybe he would know, if he wanted to, if he tried. But something was stopping him, holding him back, keeping him from doing so.

Everytime They were awake, he hopes. Only when They're awake.

He couldn't speak to Them. He couldn't look at Them, either, which almost scared him. He felt Them, They were _here_ , but They weren't stuck to one place. They were everywhere and nowhere.

And Jesse could call himself horrified when, once he finally decided to move, to look away from thè̵̢̯̞̹̫͈͓̾̓͑̈͂͆͟͝͞ e͓͕̣͍͖̘̺̎͑̓̌́̉̈m̸̺̥͖̜̩̘͓̥͑̋͊̓͌̒͊̕̕p̴̢̪̪̹̥̘͈̃͂̂̒̃t̸̡͎̪̤͉̘͙͎͆̂̊̎̀͌ï̛̠̞͙̖̰̉̑̈́͝͝n̛̞͕̗͎̏͑̆̌́̎͟͡͞͝e̴̤͇̫̜͎͖͇͔̻̋́̌̊̿́̑̈́̀ͅs̸̡̛̛̟̖̯͙̥̃̿̇͒̀͘͜ͅs̶̱̫̙̩̲͈̼̤̾̌̐̎̅̅̅͘͠ț̷̢̢̻̜̞̖̰̟͐̊̊̚̚͜ḫ̴̢̛̟̰̬̺̱̝͔̀̐̑͆̂̈́̕͢͠e̵̢͓̳̻̪̳̱͍͊́̒̔̅͂̆̽̀̊͜ ṙ̨̛̖͈͔̠͓̱͍̯́̿́̓̎̏̚͠o̧̨̠͇̫͉͇͐̈͌̂̂͆̚p̨̪̖̖̙̥̉͆̔̈̋͋̈́̇͡͡ė̡͈͍̩̮̼̬̋̾̂̓̈ t̰̖̺̪̟̀͊̄̈̚ͅȟ̸̢̰̟̣̘͚͕̞̾̈̇͛̉͢͝ẽ̡̬͍̼̳̈́͑̔͒͟c̸̗̣̼͎̥̽̾̒̂̀̄h̶̢͍͈͕̩͙̮̃̿͐̆̀͟͟a̬̬̦̺͉͎̦̰͛̀̇̆͝i̸̺̻͍̜̺̺̍̊̆̾̀̕͝ṛ̛̠͇̞̯̳̇̒̄̔ t̟̼̮̟̘͉̝̿͆̎̌̀h̡̦̦̺̮̫͈̠̎̽͋̈́͛e̴͙̟͇̗̺͋́͐̀̆̽̓ p̷̢͓̫͇͖̱̲̜̳͆͊͌̄͛͋̇̆̕͞ơ̡̤̰̘̞͑̐̌̔̏i̧̠̭̳͇̪̖̊̽̏̈́́͘͡s̝̼̙͍̳͍̣̰̆̏̾̔̈͒̈́͐͊̕͢͟ơ̷̜̲̹͍̞̬̣̦̈́̐̒̃̍͠͠ǹ̡̳̲͈͚̱̩̓̑̓̉͡e̶͚̰̙̜̫̭̼̭͒̋͂̌͋́̇̕͢d̵̞̝̩͙̝͓̰̗̒̿͆͌͐̚̕ p̡̛̰̦̜̜̯̗͆̽̅͆͐̓̀͟͞͠ͅī̷̠͙̖͔̣̠̻̋͛͑̉͢ĺ̡̢̘̯̲̄̋͆̅͡ļ̶̼̰̭̻̅̐͗̿́͊̍s̛͖̥̤̖̺̱͋͛̿̿̀̿̌͟ā̷̹̲̲̞̣͓̜̺͋̋̿́̆̑̕̚l̵̢̝͈̲̠̳̒̈́̆̄͘ c̫̥̯̥̖̺̞͙̟̒͆̒͋̒̚̕͢ỏ̷̳̦͔͎̣̍̋̍̕͟ḫ̢̢͍͖̭͖̬̥̥́́̊̃̽ò̢͔͇̪̹̰̲͚͙͇̀̐̃͐̽͌̄͐͘ḽ̡̨̣̦̟͈̜̑̒̆̿͐̏̕͠͡ g̢̘̠̜̭̝͙̤͍̈͒̑̈́͊̏͐̍͝ͅo̶͓̦̥̤̹̍̒̅̉͘̕ȧ̧̠͈̮̙̝̖̋̂̕͝͡w̶͓͓̘̺̥͖̿̿̍̆̂͟ ḁ̴̡̙̝̬̥̟̟̝̈̀͌̾̒̆̓͟͡ỳ̷̳̥̬͙̜͚̝̮̯̍͆͐͘ͅg̡̰̱̜̫͉̤̬̰̝̉͒͒́̈̀́̅̊̎ō̵̡̱͚͖̻͕̐͐̾̐͐͊͒̋a̱̥̙̹̞̬͐̈́̋́́͂͛̍ͅw̶̢̛̞̯̥̳͓̏̈́̾͘͘̚a̜̫͎̲̫̖̹͑̾͆̒̆̆͐́͘͟y̯̪̥̦̳̘̳̔͌̽̏̓̐͐͢ͅḭ̦͕̯͓͖̣̼̘̎̆̂́̓́̑̓͛̕ͅd̷̢̡̙͓͎̮̭̮͓͛̂͒̔͛̚͢o̴̡͔̣͖̘̤͋͆̌̿̓̀̅͢͢n͍̠̹͎̘͈̈̃́͆͂̏͞͡ẗ̴͙̠̹̹̗͇̘͕̳́̑͆̊̌͌̑̚͟w̱̝͕̦̲̝̍̾͛́̚a̴̧̘̬̦͎͓͓̿̇͊͝͡͞͝ņ̵̳̠̺̰̣͉̟̓͋͂́̃͌̕͢ͅn͍̟̺͓̖͙̪̤̤̓̇̊̽̄́͗͡a̷̡̯̪̗̒͒̓̈́̐͢ͅd̷̨̛̺̰̩͇̮̣͉͖͙̎́̓̕ï̪͎̟͈̳̂͂͛̀́͐̇̇͟͟e̞̫̮̮͎̬̬̔͗́̕͜͞ͅa̢̛͎̬̼͉̝͇̱͊̂͐̏̓͒̕͘͜ḻ̡̛̝̘͇͍̗̉̀͗̚͞o̡͇̦͈̹̲̘̹̥̎̽̍̍̕ǹ̢͈̮̤̰̆̂̂͠e̴͎͖̠͚͎̅͊̓͘͡ć̛̰̩̣̗̦̖̎̐͒̊̚͟͡͠ō̧̧̨̼͍̫̻̙̳̣̾̍͌̀̎̓m̴̨̡̜̬͎̻̠̘̗̺̄̆̊̃̕͠e̛̛͉̥͉͓̯̍̄̑͆̍̿͡͞b̭̝͕̥͙͚̬̰͇̥͋̐̒͆̕̚ạ̺̫̗̟̎̍̊̑͞ͅç̤̪̫̞̤͋́̐̌̊͞ͅk̢̥̩͕̀̉̍̇͂̅ͅc̥̞̠̩̘͎͙̥̐̓̇̈̚̕o̭̥͇̭̺̱̍̍̀̏͊́̀̿͒͞å̴̡̨̡̝͍̯̮͙̭̮̅̒̃̚n̵̡̛̮͙̟͔̝͛̉̌̀̕͟͜͝͞d̸̗̹̝͉̯͉͐̿͗́̋͘͟͜ ḃ̸̧̟̯̠̪͙͕̟̖̱͗̇̊̈́̄̚̚ack to the armor stand and Olivia, They'd frozen, stilled— no, They moved in unison. One mass; compact matter pretending, acting, watching, all at the same inside him.

His head.

Is this what Ren had felt in those eight years she told him about? Is this what it felt like when he told Thief that he wouldn't save Reuben?

"Do you hear that?"

Internally, he tried to calm himself and follow the script.

He turned to the floor where the creeper's hissing was rising from and tightly gripped his wooden sword, taking light steps towards the trapdoor. He could clearly see the puppet strings attached to ball-jointed limbs as he reached out for the handle.

 _His_ limbs.

 _Disgusting._

As he scolded Axel for scaring Reuben, Jesse took a mental note to ask the girl about the strings.

* * *

 **III. Cracks in the Wall**

* * *

The walls were crumbling.

He got a glimpse of it when he entered the forest, chasing Reuben. Everything momentarily broke apart, flickering between different images, textures. Cracks began to form on the planes with a sickening creak, as if bones had been broken.

And if that wasn't enough to worry him, the forest certainly did. He'd travelled through the vast place dozens of times in his ten years of being alive. He'd lived there his whole life, and he knew for sure that he was very familiar with the parts just closer to town, which was where he was right now, but all of a sudden, his mind had gone blank. Everything looked unfamiliar, new, as if he hadn't seen it before when he knew that he has. He should have. He was fine until now.

Then he stopped. Or, he wanted to, but his legs kept moving, and the cracks started to spread, slowly.

Ball joints.

"There it is, Jesse."

His will returned to him, he turned around, the black and green lines finally taking over the forest, to see the redhead in a beanie - _C̸̠̙̭͕̙̜̞̲̍͛̆̀̍͜͢͝a̶̡̺̣̳̖̝̓̂͌̍̍̂͝ͅş̴̛̠̳̟̪̹̼̼́͐̓̄͒̎̑̓̕s̷̤͉͙̬͔͙͚̉̍̍͊́͛̄̀͜i̢̢̯̯̟̱͖̻̿̌̐͞͠e̵̢͈̮͍̭̖̎̓̓̊̀͞ Ŗ̢̛̹̥̘͙͇̙̂̆́͛̓̋̊̆̕͢͟o̸̧̡͕̘̗̬͇̫̾̇̍̋̆͊͋͘͜ͅs̶̥̺͔̻̉̂͗͑̋̐̕͜͡e̴̛̛̦̦̰̦̞̪̫͂̇̄͌̀͟_ \- staring back at him. She wasn't far, but that seemed more out of convenience more than anything realistic. The green pixels were fading into dust behind her.

The older girl's eyes were empty, face blank. "It's starting to fall apart. Your interferences-"

"I haven't cut the strings yet," he said, lost. Desperate, as well, perhaps. "I didn't even know they were here."

"You didn't have to. Knowing was more than enough." She tilted her head slightly, "The others didn't know, remember? They never told you about Them."

He looked down, hands fidgeting. Ignore the strings. "No, they didn't."

The girl hummed, and Jesse turned to face the cracks. They were small, but bright whites bled through, light shining in the dark̴̼̩̳͔͚͙̦͋̈́̒͆̐̀̕͢͡,̢̡̛͍͕̣͕͕̾̓̓̓̑̚͘͟ h̷̦̭̫̯͑̌̀̍́͂̾̌͟͡u̵̼̞͉̪̙̹̪̯̰̇̉̔̊̌̕͜͝m̛̤̗̲͙̪̥͗̍̿̋́̀͛͘͢͜͜m̶̨̟͉͚̩̟̭͑̀̔͂́̈́̾̑͠S̭̣͕̱̭̿͊̇̕͡c̡͇̲̟̖̖͓̦̤͗̇̌̈̿̈̿̓͡r̶͔̞̠̝̖͖̘̜͚͍̾̉͒͗͒́ȩ̵̞͓̘̪̓̐̾̀͞a̦̦̝͙͇̥̳̹͋͊̀̄̎͒̈́͘͠m̷̥̦̗̳̼̺̥̘̀̿̂̀̿̓̃̃͘͘į̶̹̥̪̠̈̀̏̅͊̋̊͒n͔̩̟̘̺̳̯͎͋̒̈̐̒͋̇̈̈́͋ģ͕̼̦̮̜̖͉̙̞̂͋̑́̿̅?̵̰̖̹̟̻́̃̍͆̈́̃́͗͢͝,̴͖̫̜̥̭̈̈́͂̓̀͊̓͂͞ a high-pitched noise one would have to strain their ears to hear emanating from the crack.

How could he have known when the others didn't?

Cassie's frown thinned, brows furrowing as she watched the boy.

"You're familiar with the phrase, 'Prisoner Zero has escaped,' right?"

Jesse blinked when he turned back to her, a look of surprise on his face. "I didn't know you were one for science-fiction," Then, his eyes narrowed, and his surprise turned to a look of mild disgust. "Oh, we're not going there."

The girl shook her head and simply said, "Whatever. I'll let you figure it out for yourself." Then she crossed her arms, glancing wearily at the cracks, "Like I said, good luck."

She turned around without waiting for a reply, saying on her way, "I'll see you around."

And she was gone.

Nearby, Jesse could hear the cackling of fire. A lone tree, he saw, when he turned around. It was standing all alone, dying, branches burning brighter than the moonlight covering the forest.

Jesse watched it burn, watched the leaves get eaten away by flames and small embers fall softly to the grass and disappearing shortly after. Very soon, the tree was gone, leaving nothing behind but a charred stump.

He took one moment before calling Reuben's name.


End file.
